The Visigoth

the visigoth

Living In: Alella

Living In: Alella

El Maresme, the Catalan super-commuter belt. Crowded trains hugging the seafront. Exclusive casas pareadas, yummy-mummy SUVs and all those signs of well-heeled and somehow out-of-bounds suburbia. Yes, it's a bit pijo - check out Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, the self-styled 'Super-Maresme with all its 24-hour surveillance golf-course gardens and periscope mansions). But, the Maresme has some delicious corners; milennial vineyards, good rambling routes, precious scenery and hands

What is: Andorra Land Art

What is: Andorra Land Art

In the 1960s an art movement was born which rejected the locating of art in the traditional habitat of the gallery or museum. Artists such as the American sculptor Robert Smithson reacted to an encroaching commercialization of art typified in the Pop Art movement, by taking their work into the great outdoors, where they would use natural, sustainable materials to create sculptures embedded in the natural landscape. Central to this 'Land Art' or 'Earthworks' movement was the n

Exploration of Catalonia's Nether Parts: Castellet i la Gornal

Exploration of Catalonia's Nether Parts: Castellet i la Gornal

Castellet i la Gornal is not somewhere many people have heard of. But it’s the site of one of Catalonia’s handsomest devils of a castle and it has a fine position over the Foix reservoir, with the vineyards of the Alt Penedés rolling away in one direction and the pine forests of the Garraf in the other. Approached from the coast at Vilanova it’s a lovely 14 kilometre drive up the meandering Foix river. The village is a gorgeous, golden-stoned medieval pile, mostly well-prese

Spain's Frontier Towns

Classic Sunday Excursions from Barcelona in Winter

Five Montañas Close to Barcelona

Five Montañas Close to Barcelona

Barcelona province is blessed with stunning mountain scenery. From the Serrated Mountain to the Eagle's Pass and Bertí's Crags, here's five mountains within half an hour's journey from BCN. We begin with the Sant Llorenç range and one mountain that really does mola... La Mola The chief pico in the Sant Llorenc del Munt I Obac mountain range, La Mola is one of the three main mountains (the others being Montserrat and Montseny) visible from the top of Tibidabo. The mountain is

Death to Saloufest

Death to Saloufest

Critic Peter S. Beagle, writing about Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, commented on the 'erotic derangement that turns us all into voyeurs, a place filled with the intoxicating air of perfect liberty.' For decades Spain has been sold as such a place, a place of 'perfect liberty', by budget tour companies. In particular, for the last sixteen years British students have converged in the handsome Costa Dorada locality of Salou, intent on turning it into a scene fro

Medina Azahara: Excavation or Building Site?

Medina Azahara: Excavation or Building Site?

Named after a beautiful concubine of Abd al-Rahman III, Medina Azahara is a Moorish palace on a lush mount overlooking the plains to the west of Cordoba. In 929 it was the capital of the Islamic state of Al-Andalus, 'the Versailles of the Middle Ages'. Now the roots of ancient trees wrap the palace’s tumbled stones in a skeletal embrace; sacked centuries ago, many of its rocks were carried off to Cordoba, five miles away, for the construction of churches and civic buildings.

San Juan Festival: Baptism by fire and water

San Juan Festival: Baptism by fire and water

Algeciras, just before midnight on the 23rd of June. Life-sized rag dolls are being carried down to the beaches at Getares and El Rinconcillo. Called Juanillos, these dolls carry inside them the secret wishes of Algeciran citizens, scribbled on bits of paper and stuffed in their bellies. Once they have reached the beach these dolls, together with the wishes committed to their bellies, are set on fire. This is the 'Fiesta de los Juanillos'. It's just one of hundreds of differe

A Jewel on the Valencian Coast: Montgó Natural Park

A Jewel on the Valencian Coast: Montgó Natural Park

It's a microclimate of tantalizing floral and geological diversity, with wildflowers, limestone caves, rousing views, secluded bays and kooky cottages, just over an hour south of Valencia. Viewed from Xábia, the elegant town on its southern slopes, the natural park of Montgó is often said to resemble the head and trunk of an elephant. The 753 metre-tall mountain which dominates the park - the elephant's head - is a beacon for hikers, but it's the rocky headland of Cape Sant A

Forget The Beach: Five Aquatic Alternatives This Summer

Forget The Beach: Five Aquatic Alternatives This Summer

Forget laying about in piles of cigarettes and beer cans, while beer-sellers kick sand on your towel, loud guiris in sombreros cry 'Oy!Oy!' and kids dive-bomb into the surf. There's better stuff to do in summer. Like swimming in the handsome Ebro river at medieval Miravet. Or flippering up for the rapids at Llavorsi. Or how about aqua-trekking in the Sierra de Guara? Here's five alternatives to hitting the beach. Miravet A typical Baix Ebre town painted in pastel shades and h

Who is: Sant Jordi

Who is: Sant Jordi

Occupation: Patron Saint of Catalunya. And lots of other places. Appearance: Visored helmet, chainmail. Tunic emblazones with a red cross on it. You mean Saint George, that Italian chap who killed a dragon. Contrary to his traditional depiction, experts now claim the Saint was from Capadoccia in Turkey. But yes. The one who, in European Christian folklore, rescued the damsel from the dragon. And inspires all that book for a flower stuff on April 23. Explain. The scent of ros

Off The Modernista Trail: Rubí

Off The Modernista Trail: Rubí

This week, it’s happily off the modernista trail we go, to the Industrial town of Rubí. It might not have ‘buenas tetas’ as one friend put it. In fact, it seems like the last place you’d enjoy getting lost for a day. But, explore a little, and you’ll find a spirited multicultural town full of hidden modernista treats, only 20 minutes on the train from Barcelona. A Catalan friend of mine once said that Rubí doesn’t have ‘buenas tetas.’ If you’ve ever driven past it on the C-16

In defence of: Terrassa

In defence of: Terrassa

A much-maligned city of some 200,000 inhabitants to the north of Barcelona, in the heavily overbuilt-up area known as the Vallés Occidental, Terrassa's got more than enough industrial pedigree and architectural durge to give it UNESCO crap town status. However, explore further, and Terrassa throws off its shackles, announcing itself as a curious crossover; an interesting crap town, well worth the 40-minute FGC ride from Barcelona. It's majestically located upon the lap of the

Shit But Brilliant Trips: Aborted Mission to Sierra de Guara, 2003

The criteria for a bed were: as few ants as possible, a patch of grass which might best imitate a mattress and an enclosed space inconducive to large mammal hospitality. Long ago in the twilight of history, the city was called Bolskan and it was the capital of the Celto-Iberian Hergotes tribe. When it was absorbed into the Roman Empire the city became Victoria Urbs Osca, an academic centre for privileged young Iberians. When the Saracens took it in the 8th Century it became W

Between the Oranges and Olives: Periana, Malaga

Between the Oranges and Olives: Periana, Malaga

For the past 15 years I’ve lived and worked in Barcelona. Barcelona is beautiful, and vain. She spends her time looking in the mirror, making herself alluring and interesting, imagining how others see her. She is hard-working, but with a rebellious spirit. The past has taught her to mistrust. She keeps many lovers, but cannot decide between them. She has a split-personality. She is stylishly aloof, and yet has a weakness for kitsch ornaments and artistic excess. Nothing like

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